


Aglow

by shinigami714



Category: The Hobbit (Jackson Movies), The Hobbit - All Media Types, The Hobbit - J. R. R. Tolkien
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Deities, Demons, First Meeting, Illustrated, M/M, Magic, Outdoor Sex, Soulmates
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-30
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-07-04 09:27:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,974
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15838437
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shinigami714/pseuds/shinigami714
Summary: Fili knows there's something odd about the man in his bookshop the moment he steps inside and heads right to the back.  To the aisle he shouldn't have seen at all.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> It's short, but it's something! For Fiki Week Second Chances: Fantasy.

There was something different about him.  Fíli knew that much immediately.  The very moment the slender brunet walked through the door of his used bookshop he sensed it.  And had he not been able, the quick way he veered towards the books that were magical in nature would have tipped Fíli off.  No one ever went to the dusty hidden aisle near the back of the store.  It was designed in such a way so they would not.  Not unless they were gifted enough to actually use the books hidden there. That alone had Fíli tensing agitatedly and tailing the stranger covertly through his store.

Fíli narrowed his eyes as he winded through the shelves unseen.  He wasn’t particularly light on his feet, quite the opposite in fact, but he had ways of staying out of sight when need be.  He was at his strongest during the day, and the rays of light streaking through the windows gave him power and energy that could not be matched by any of his kind.  Not while the sun was at its highest in the sky. 

He stopped an aisle over, peering through the shelving interestedly. The man was human in appearance, and yet, moved in a way that elevated him. Like he was thousands of years old, and had all the time in the world to take in every detail surrounding him.  His features were ethereal, every action with purpose, and his form floated through the air with ease, though his feet touched the ground like any normal man’s would.  His gaze flitted around curiously, smartly, cunningly, and as Fíli studied him through the dusty shelves he narrowed his eyes when he saw something strange in the man’s dark irises.  There was a sparkle there, a glimpse of something deeper, something more…internal.  Like the way the sun sometimes reflected a dancing flame in Fíli’s own ancient eyes. 

The more he looked, the more Fíli’s curiosity grew.  The stranger was a trickster, of a playful nature. He saw it in the wry smirk upon his face, in the way his fingers flipped through the pages of the book he read excitedly. And he was powerful too.  Perhaps just as powerful as Fíli. But he did not sense an evil presence in the room as he might have with one who sought to cause true harm to the world around them.  There was no desire for superiority, no yearning to hurt or have control. Fíli allowed his shoulders to relax, and he tilted his head to the side before easing around the side of the bookshelf.  Still he went unnoticed, and Fíli grinned wryly, and with a quick glance into the empty store he let the sun go free in his form.   He felt the power surge throughout him, his eyes lighting up brightly as his skin took on a strange glow.  It wasn’t his full form, not by a longshot.  But it was more than enough.    

“Can I help you find something,” he drawled, and he nearly laughed when the brunet squeaked and fumbled the book in his hands.  The man’s chin lifted quickly, his eyes widening as they fell upon Fíli in surprise. He took in a quick breath of air and inched back a few steps before hurrying to return the book to the shelf, gaze never once leaving Fíli.  He had no choice but to inch around Fíli’s form to escape, and his face flushed deeply as he avoided Fíli’s gaze and made a hasty exit from the aisle. The blond chuckled lowly at the now jittery form that was so different from the cool confidence that had been present just minutes prior.  He’d had all sorts of reactions to his magic before, though none quite as invigorating as this.

Fíli took a brief moment to glance at the book so hastily returned to the shelf, eyeing the lunar cycle that decorated the spine as footfalls pattered quickly towards the shop’s front door.  He smiled fully this time, grabbing the book from the shelf and turning around to catch the brunet struggling to turn the handle on the door. 

Lunar magic.  He should have known.

It was no wonder he found the man so captivating.  They were two parts of a whole.  A perfect balance.  Where one’s magic ended, the other’s began. He couldn’t let him just walk away.  Fíli leaned against the side of the aisle casually; book in hand, his entire form aglow.  The sunlight surged through his form and he couldn’t fight the rush of adrenaline as he dropped his façade completely.  Flames circled his body, as two curled horns appeared above his head, and he desperately hoped that one of his five daily customers didn’t choose that specific moment to walk through his door.  As powerful as he was, memory alteration was not among his gifts.

“Come back at dusk, if you like,” Fíli spoke, his voice echoing through the small space loudly. “We’re open late tonight.  And the moon…is fourteen days old.”

The man paused at the door, the little bell jingling over his head as lithe fingers grasped the doorframe tightly.  He turned back, met Fíli’s gaze once more and stalled, mouth agape.  His expression morphed slowly, a tiny smile appearing on his face.  He looked Fíli up and down a few times, landing on the book in his hands.  His eyes shimmered strangely, and then he nibbled his lower lip and nodded once before slipping away, the door shutting quietly behind him.  Fíli laughed then, giddy with delight.  He lowered his gaze to the book as he reigned in his power with great strain.  It wanted to go free, to fill the room with light, mirroring the sun in the sky.  He felt his heart thudding in anticipation for the moment that the beautiful man once again walked through the door of his shop. Fíli could only imagine what he might look like beneath the cover of darkness, the full moon glowing in the night’s sky and reflected fully in his gaze.  He took a deep breath, calming the electric feeling running through his veins.

He had much to do.  Sunset was only…seven hours away after all.

* * *

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Kili decides to venture back to the bookshop at dusk despite his better judgement.

__

* * *

Just a sliver of the sun was visible on the horizon when Kíli found himself standing once again in front of the tiny bookshop in a back alley downtown.   There wasn’t anything particularly enrapturing about the storefront.  It was quaint, with a little wooden sign that hung out above the door.   _Heirloom Books_ was engraved on the plaque, and just like earlier in the day Kíli felt compelled to enter.  He should have known it wasn’t just an ordinary run of the mill store.  But he had walked inside without a care in the world, and even proceeded right to the back where a bunch of magical books lined the shelves.  Books that wouldn’t be of use to a normal being.  He had thought nothing of it at the time.  Too engrossed in the pages of a book on lunar spells and magic to notice he was being watched.

Humans often dabbled in the magicks of old, without the slightest idea just how powerful and real all of it was.  He had thought the novels merely part of someone’s collection, perhaps gathering dust as they were passed on between generations that no longer understood their depth.  But that creature…had been no human.

He swallowed nervously as he recalled the man from inside the store.  He was _gorgeous_.  Blond, blue eyed, soft-spoken, but confident.  And when he had revealed himself like that, revealed his true form, Kíli had known their meeting was destined to occur.  What came from that meeting, he couldn’t be sure.

The sun was nearly gone now, the moon still hidden behind a few clouds, but its light was growing stronger in the sky and Kíli wrapped his arms around his body as the hair on them stood on end.  He felt on edge, had for several days now.  He was old…very old by most standards, but the full moon still left him unsettled and anxious.  His power was cyclical.  Waning and Waxing alongside the moon.  And when it was full, it was nearly unbearable, suffocating even, and he feared one day it might overtake him, and perhaps take the world down with him.  It was one of the reasons he often stayed hidden away on nights of the full moon. Locked up in his bedroom with the windows shut until morning. He’d spend the night doing breathing exercises and meditating, just barely keeping himself in check.  And yet here he was, outside, in plain sight, just before dusk.

Kíli shivered and hunched into himself when someone walked by a little bit too close for his liking.  He shoved his hands further in his pockets, and contemplated turning and running back home.  If he moved quickly, he might just make it before it became too much for him to control.  But the thought of leaving the store felt wrong.  It was as though he was meant to be there, and that whatever waited for him inside was exactly what he was looking for. 

He stepped forward, twisting the brass doorknob before opening the door and stepping inside.  He wasn’t surprised to find the blond man already waiting, leaning up against the desk that held the cash register.  Their eyes met, and Kíli swallowed as the bell chimed over his head, and then the man grinned faintly and stepped closer to shut the door behind him.  He flicked the deadbolt in place, and turned the sign in the window around, declaring his store officially closed.

“You actually came back,” the man spoke, gaze roaming over Kíli’s form. “A part of me thought you might…change your mind.”

“I almost did,” Kíli admitted, blinking a few times before looking back towards the man’s shining blue eyes.  They were no less mysterious than earlier in the day, though his power had waned slightly, just barely thrumming beneath the surface. “I thought you were open late?” Kíli asked, nodding towards the closed sign slyly.  It was a vain attempt to hide his nervousness, and he knew the blond saw right through it when his gaze dropped towards the tremble in Kíli’s lip.

“Open for you,” the blond intoned, and Kíli shivered at the intensity behind his gaze.  Their introductions happened shortly after, and the man named Fíli led him further into the store, beyond even the bookshelf he had hidden away by earlier in the day.  Kíli hadn’t noticed the door at the back end of the shop the last time he was there and a part of him wondered if he would have been able to tell it was there at all had he even looked. 

A decorative tapestry hung over it, depicting many images Kíli recognized upon a quick glance, but most prominent were the vivid sun and moon that circled around the outside.  He noticed with surprise that they moved very slowly upon the tapestry, and Kíli swallowed again, this time in excitement as it was lifted aside for him.

Kíli wasn’t sure what he was expecting as he set foot inside the adjoined room.  What should have been a small space was and endless expanse, clearly altered by magic.  Kíli knew the shop backed onto another alleyway in the core of the city centre, and where there should have been buildings and roads, and the industrial buildings for manufacturing, instead he saw rolling hills and trees decorating the space for acres beyond.

It was beautiful, and his eyes watered slightly at the sight.

The ground was covered in thick green grass, and Kíli opened his mouth as his toes stepped atop the cool strands and stretched into the soil beneath them.  The walls to his sides appeared as a forest, and the moon was vivid and bright in the sky.  It was then that it truly hit him.  It wasn’t fake at all.  He could feel everything, even the tiny ants crawling across his toes.  The soft breeze against his skin.  He could hear the cicadas buzzing, the birds calling out to their mates. But mostly he felt the moon’s power over him, felt it running through his veins, and he shivered and stepped back in surprise, his body knocking into Fíli’s.

“I spent all day working on this room.  It was quite tricky to get the spells just right.  Very particular magic.  Especially since I wanted more than a mere illusion.  Luckily the sun was on my side,” Fíli spoke, leaning down to breathe the words into his ear.  Kíli shuddered as strong hands took hold of him just beneath his elbows. “This had to be real.  For you.  Will you join me, beneath the moonlight?”

“Why?  Why all this for me?” Kíli gasped, his breathing quickening as he struggled to remain in control.

“I’ve waited a very long time to meet someone like you.  My equal, my other half,” Fíli drawled. “I was starting to think…I’d be alone forever.” The words hit close to home and Kíli whimpered slightly and leaned further back into Fíli’s embrace. “Can you show me?  Who you really are?”

“I…I can’t,” Kíli stuttered, already shaking from the strain of holding in his power. “I…I can’t control it, not during the full moon.”

Fíli stepped around him then, and brushed a hand across his cheek gently. “Shhh, it’s okay,” he swore. “You’re safe in this room. No one can see us, and no one can get inside, I promise.  Just you and me.”

“I’m not worried about someone getting in…,” Kíli muttered. “I’m worried about me…getting out there. Or even…hurting you,” He shivered, and then tensed, straining every muscle in his body just to keep the power within him under control. He’d hurt people before, so often in fact that he was forced to move several times a year.  Each time with a new stain upon his soul.  They called him a demon.  And perhaps he was.  A bringer of death and destruction.  But he didn’t revel in causing people pain.  His power simply wasn’t meant for mortal beings, and when it got out, beyond his fingertips and into the world around him, it was dangerous.  Very dangerous.  There had been hundreds of new locations, new places to adapt to.  He’d spent years trying to find his place.  Trying to find a balance.  Never really fitting in.  Eternally alone.  But now…

“It can’t get out either.  And you can’t hurt me, I swear it,” Fíli promised, and when Kíli searched his gaze he could almost believe those words might prove true.  If anyone could help him, it was perhaps the being standing before him.  A being used to controlling a power much like his own, only far more practised and confident in doing so.

Kíli’s power wasn’t quite like that of the sun.  He didn’t experience it equally every day of his life, or have the opportunity to train it in the same way.  And while Fíli clearly still held some power, despite the sun having already set, Kíli did not possess such a skill during broad daylight when the moon was no longer visible in the sky.  It was always changing, moving from less to more and back again.  Completely aligned with the cycle of the moon.  It made it difficult to master. 

His power was a reflection of the sun’s as well as the moon’s, and as such, doubly as strong at its peak, but nearly nonexistent at its weakest point.  During the new moon, he was at his frailest.  Often drained and lethargic, completely without energy.  He could barely muster the strength to get out of bed at all, and often spent days on end doing little more than dozing and stretching beneath his sheets. But on the nights when the moon was full…it was unbearable in a different way.  Like he held the power of two beings instead of just one.  And his body begged him to let some of it flow free, if only to help him _breathe_. 

“Trust me, I can help you,” Fíli said, leaning down so their noses brushed together lightly at their tips.  The touch was cool upon Kíli’s skin, and he startled, but didn’t pull away when Fíli leaned closer to kiss him.  It was the barest trace of contact, but it was enough, and Kíli breathed against Fíli’s lips in surprise as arousal shot throughout his form.

Fíli’s eyes lit up, and Kíli felt the strain in his body ebb away.  He relaxed, albeit slightly.  He was staring into two glowing orbs, eyes he was sure matched his own in intensity, and he wanted to give in, wanted to let the man before him guide him somewhere else entirely.  They didn’t belong on earth, not really. 

“Ready?” Fíli asked, drawing away just enough that they no longer touched.  Kíli wasn’t, but he nodded regardless, and when Fíli reached out both his hands, Kíli grasped them he stepped forward, no longer cloaked in darkness.  He felt his vision grey out as he let the moon take over, and his body lurched forward.  He would have hit the ground had Fíli not held him upright.

“Hey, I’ve got you, I’ve got you,” Fíli whispered against his skin. “Breathe, that’s it. Look at you, incredible.”

The words were little more than an echo within his mind.  He’d never let his power run wild in such a way before, never given in to it so willingly and completely.  He felt weightless, like he was floating, felt the transformation take over as horns grew out from his scalp and his eyes darkened to black.  For once, he didn’t fight the chance.  It wasn’t painful like usual, instead it felt like a release.  He had never felt so grounded before, even with the amount of power running through his form, it was like it was just another part of him.  And he was lost in it for a moment, staring at his ghostlike arms in disbelief.

He narrowed his eyes, looking at the foreign garments that covered much of his frame.  They didn’t belong there, weren’t a part of him.  And he was so very hot. Too hot. He stripped them away in a hurry, caring little as the fabric tore apart and fell from his frame.  He needed to be free of it.  Free of everything except nature and Fíli.

Ah yes.  Fíli. 

Kíli turned his gaze on him then, surprised to meet eyes glowing with energy and desire.  His power wasn’t intense like it had been earlier in the day, but Kíli recognized its strength regardless.  He wrapped his hands around Fíli’s form, swallowing the man’s moan with a kiss.  And then he was stripping him too.  Ripping apart the annoying garments while Fíli laughed lowly in his ear.  Soon enough an equally naked body pressed against his, and they danced together atop the grass like the world belonged to them.  He forgot he was inside a bookstore, in the middle of the city, surrounded by buildings and people, and noise and light pollution that hid the stars from sight.  He forgot about everything except the touch upon his body, and the power flowing throughout his form.

They tumbled to the ground, a mass of flailing limbs and tangled hair, relishing in the cool grass beneath their bodies.  And Kíli bucked against Fíli desperately, invigorated by lust and power and something even greater.  Fingers explored, and lips teased.  They groaned and cried out and pleaded with one another for more.  Kíli gasped as his hair was yanked to the side, drawing his head with it as teeth nipped and tugged at the skin of his neck.  He could see the moon above, feel every bit of its power within him, but it didn’t frighten him as it had before.  Instead he reached out for it, embraced it, and let it surround them until they were a bright ball of light upon the ground.  He laughed and cried, shouted at the top of his lungs while Fíli explored every inch of his body, and after hours of restless grinding he found release with his legs wrapped around thick thighs.

When he woke the next morning it was slowly, and with a groan.  He was still lying upon the ground, but it felt unbearably cold against his sweat slickened skin, and even more so in contrast to where the sunlight heated one side of his body.  He felt like he’d run a marathon, or perhaps found his way beneath the wheels of a transport.  His body was sticky and sore in places that made him flush in embarrassment, but he just couldn’t find the will inside to move.  The grass tickled his arms uncomfortably, and he smiled lightly despite it all.   Fíli looked down upon him, his body leaning over Kíli’s so that it cast his face into shadow.  He felt the other man’s fingers brush through his bangs, pushing away several sweat slickened strands of hair.

“‘Morning gorgeous,” Fíli drawled, and Kíli blinked up at him in bewilderment.

Fíli looked completely invigorated, not a hint of darkness beneath his eyes.  It was like he hadn’t been up all night ploughing Kíli into the ground.  Kíli’s Face heated further as he recalled just what they had done.  His body felt different, like it wasn’t just his anymore, and like he had the power of another thrumming about inside him as well.  He squirmed and sighed as Fíli bent down and kissed him, fingers lingering over his bare skin softly. The brunet narrowed his eyes, and pouted when the other man chuckled at his flustered expression. How could he still have so much energy? And then Kíli remembered that his power came from the sun.  The sun which was only just starting to make its journey across the sky. 

“‘M tired,” Kíli murmured against his lips, scrunching up his nose before letting out a sleepy yawn.

“I’m sure you are,” Fíli said with a chuckle. “Rest here, beneath the sun.  You’ll need your strength again for tonight.”

Kíli laughed loudly then but felt himself beginning to drift already.   Fíli was right after all.  The full moon had passed, but it was far from weak.  It would be a few days before the erratic energy simmered enough for him to completely relax in the evenings. For now though, all he wanted to do was doze off.

He slipped in and out of wakefulness throughout the rest of the day, pausing to catch butterflies upon his fingertips or to watch the clouds change shapes in the sky.  It was easy to stay in his chosen place atop the grass, the heat of the sun warming his cool skin.  Fíli’s heat.  Kíli smirked wildly and sprawled his limbs seductively across the ground, hands running across his form sensually.  He positively grinned as the rays of light flared in response and even thought he heard a curse from somewhere beyond that hidden door. 

Of course Fíli would know.  Of course he was…watching. 

Kíli became more eager as the hours ticked on, more restless as the energy in his veins threatened to burst free once more.  His hands explored himself instead. Teasing. Taunting.  And when the sun finally began to set, the secret door flew open and Fíli was upon him in an instant, clothes falling from his form along the way.  In no time at all they were wrapped around each other once again, rolling about atop the grass wildly.

“Y-you,” Fíli growled against the patch of skin just beneath his ear and Kíli laughed and pulled him closer.

Hmmm.  Yes, this was exactly where he was meant to be.


End file.
